Anybody but me notice how much more expensive playoff tickets are this year than last -- and not just on StubHub?

By my calculations, the cost of going to a game in each round has been about double what it was last year. I foolishly spent $435 on two tickets to Game 2 against the Canadiens, which makes me reluctant to do it again. $300 for two tickets on row 15 upstairs? $500 for a pair in the loge? Who can afford those prices?!?

Bruins tickets prices continue to increase far faster than the rate of inflation, the salary cap, or my own income. If the Bruins win the cup, I doubt I'll ever be able to afford to go to a game again. Each additional win only seems to increase the Jacobs' family's greed exponentially.

Wish it were possible to organize some sort of boycott, but there never seems to be any shortage of people willing to pay whatever the Bruins or Red Sox charge.

I wont even pay the price of a regular season ticket...I just cant bring myself to do it. I pay for the direct TV NHL package, which comes to $2 a game, if you are watching one team over an 82 game schedule. Plus its in the comforts of my home on my Big flat screen tv, with an exceptional HD picture....You just cant beat that. And the beers and food are much cheaper at home too. Ever since HD, Id rather be at home watching it anyway. Love it.Maybe if the players didnt have to make so much for doing something they loved, then maybe the working class could afford it.

Half the people that moan and groan about this are people that slam Obama for being a "socialist" I hope you realize what you are saying is clearly anti-free marketPosted by OlsonicCreations

Im not moaning and groaning , but there is something to be said for the higher prices and the whole profit sharing to help out those teams that have poor attendance. I get it, but we are the ones who have to pay for it, like everything else in this country. THe economy is a mess right now and companies try to take advantage where ever they can. Yep its a free market, but you can only bleed so much money out of everyones pocket before they cant get anymore.

In Response to Re: Playoff ticket prices : Im not moaning and groaning , but there is something to be said for the higher prices and the whole profit sharing to help out those teams that have poor attendance. I get it, but we are the ones who have to pay for it, like everything else in this country. THe economy is a mess right now and companies try to take advantage where ever they can. Yep its a free market, but you can only bleed so much money out of everyones pocket before they cant get anymore.Posted by bgrif008

I understand supply and demand, but I consider professional sports teams a public trust and so governed by different rules. After all, most have a monopoly in their markets, which violates anti-trust laws.

In return for that monopoly, professional sports teams owe it to their fans not to gouge them. Bruins tickets prices are increasing faster than the rate of inflation, faster than the growth of the salary cap, and certainly faster than my income. Why? Greed. There's no other explanation for it.

I go to plenty of college games, but I'm a Bruins fan and want to see them -- in person, not on TV. Watching a game on TV just isn't the same. I have been a loyal Bruins fan through thick and thin, good years and bad years, Dave Lewis and all. But now that they win two playoff series, they raise ticket prices so high that they are pricing middle class sports fans out of the arena.

Regarding StubHub: I hate legal scalping, too, but in the case of the Bruins, StubHub is usually cheaper than the box office, single game price for tickets. So if you boycott StubHub for that reason, you're only hurting yourself.

Did anybody notice that the Bruins/Garden removed all the water fountains from the arena this season? Why? Oh, they're hard to maintain say Bruin management. Yeah, right. It's greed.

Anybody but me notice how much more expensive playoff tickets are this year than last -- and not just on StubHub? By my calculations, the cost of going to a game in each round has been about double what it was last year. I foolishly spent $435 on two tickets to Game 2 against the Canadiens, which makes me reluctant to do it again. $300 for two tickets on row 15 upstairs? $500 for a pair in the loge? Who can afford those prices?!? Bruins tickets prices continue to increase far faster than the rate of inflation, the salary cap, or my own income. If the Bruins win the cup, I doubt I'll ever be able to afford to go to a game again. Each additional win only seems to increase the Jacobs' family's greed exponentially. Wish it were possible to organize some sort of boycott, but there never seems to be any shortage of people willing to pay whatever the Bruins or Red Sox charge.Posted by Gumprecht

They're not a monopoly. You have the option of watching the Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics, Revolution, Breakers, Lobsters, and semi-pro and college sports.

Sports are absolutely NOT a public trust. A business/man has to invest millions into the club with the hope of running it to a profit. He has the right to sell tickets for the highest price people will pay. It sucks for people who can't afford it, like me, but that's the deal. I'm not a class warrior.

You can't really rag on players for taking millions in salaries. They certainly deserve the money more than the front office, wouldn't you say? Also, they can only do their job for a very limited window, and in most cases, either didn't go to college or left early in order to persue hockey.... plus they could get knocked out of the game at any moment. I'm not trying to say that they aren't rich, but I will say that the money isn't really as glaring as people think it is.

I think his point was, if it wasn't for the wealthy "businessmen" that own these professional sports teams, there wouldn't likely be any professional sports teams. And, by nature, what to "businessmen" like to do? They like to invest and make money.

No owner is going to maintain artificially low prices on their product if the market will bear higher prices. And, frankly, they don't "owe it" to anyone to do so.

The key phrase in the original post is "or my own income" - it's all relative to what each individual can afford. There are plenty of people out there that are happy to spend the current prices. Heck, the 12,000 season tickets (loge and balcony) have already sold out for next year.

So, there will always be those that lament the prices being "too damn high" - but it's very likely that there will always be those that are happy to pay that price, as well.

If the prices are too high - and you simply can't stomach the idea of (gasp!) watching them on television - maybe it's time to switch things up. Become a fan of museums... a lot of them are free to enter and you can stay as long as you like.

Well, the 'when it suits them' tag goes both ways. Major sports - and the perfect example is the Coyotes - make the case that they are a public good when it suits them. The people of Glendale were sold one bill of goods to produce infrastructure for a hockey team and are now being sold another bill of goods to pay for a team that will use that infrastructure. Meanwhile potential buyers demand public funding in reduced rent and subsidies if not more direct cash.

Now, is this any different from the way most major businesses work? Probably not in kind, but it does seem to differ in degree when you consider how few of the higher paying jobs sports generate draw people from the local community. Lots of hot dog vendors and beer jockeys making tips for four hour shifts. Hotels and bars probably see the most impact, but how much trickle down is there really? I've always thought sport was a break even proposition for the public economy at best, but economics even more than physics loves to contemplate something rather than nothing.

Dude when are you going to wake up and realize that sports is a business. It's about making MONEY $$$. If its too much money, watch them on TV. Before passing judgement on the Jacobs family you should understand that owners of any Pro sports teams Buy a Team to make LOTS of MONEY. You live in America. I am surprised you are not accustomed to greedy banks and corporations.

You are starting to sound like a Socialist. Remember we live in a captalist society!

Anybody but me notice how much more expensive playoff tickets are this year than last -- and not just on StubHub? By my calculations, the cost of going to a game in each round has been about double what it was last year. I foolishly spent $435 on two tickets to Game 2 against the Canadiens, which makes me reluctant to do it again. $300 for two tickets on row 15 upstairs? $500 for a pair in the loge? Who can afford those prices?!? Bruins tickets prices continue to increase far faster than the rate of inflation, the salary cap, or my own income. If the Bruins win the cup, I doubt I'll ever be able to afford to go to a game again. Each additional win only seems to increase the Jacobs' family's greed exponentially. Wish it were possible to organize some sort of boycott, but there never seems to be any shortage of people willing to pay whatever the Bruins or Red Sox charge.Posted by Gumprecht